‘Dem Bones, ‘Dem Bones…

I started to type the title for my post and the theme to “Bad Boys” came into my head. ‘Dem bones, ‘dem bones, whatchoo gonna do? Whatchoo gonna do when dey come fo’ you… Our theme next month is releasing our ghosts through writing and I couldn’t resist posting to that a little early. It feels Octoberish in my part of the States right now anyway, so here we go.

Many, many words have been penned about memoir, personal writing, journaling, keeping a diary, and a host of other ways to say the same thing: meeting ourselves on the page. I read once that journaling is the closest we come to being in the moment, except that it’s still at one remove because we’re talking about the moment and not literally being in it. (Sit with that thought a moment, it’s rather Zen but I think is a good point to ponder.) So how the hell do we do that?

One of my favorite books for getting into the moment on the page is by Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones. In it, she gives a series of essays and exercises to guide us in getting in touch with ourselves on the page and for getting into the moment. It amounts to getting out of our own way and quieting the censor, that voice that says, “That’s not how you spell censor!”

Rather than worrying about how we’re writing, we write and let the words flow out of us like the breath. When we breathe, we don’t worry about how we’re breathing, it just happens automatically. When we start to speak to someone, we open our mouths and the words flow out of us – we don’t think about how to breath to form speech, how to shape our mouths, where to put our tongue, or any of that. For most of us it’s simply an automatic process. We speak, simple as that.

I remember the first time I picked up Ms. Goldberg’s book. I was living in Mount Shasta at the time. I worked in a bookstore/coffee house and my official story was, “I was on sabbatical to write books.” That’s also the literal truth, though I wouldn’t have put such fancy language around it. I wanted to write books with every fiber of my being but, unfortunately, there’s not a book-writing tree from which we can go pick fruit and BAM! a book results. It’s a lot of hard work and there’s a lot of “stuff” in the way: chiefly, that censor I talked about above. Ms. Goldberg’s words practically floated off the page and hit me between the eyes: try filling one notebook a month.

One notebook a month? Is she nuts? Crazy? Cracked? Wrong?

Nope. She’s pretty much on the ball with that one, as I discovered over the months after reading her book and fighting with the exercises and learning, word by word, page by page, to get over myself and just write.

What about you? What’s your favorite tool for getting onto the page?



--
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings


The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.
Check out "Seeking Hearts", available from Torquere Books.

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Let Writing Freedom Wring--er, Ring!

As I rewrite the ending of my Steampunk Nightingale story for the seventh time (don't judge. James Thurber did it) I can't help thinking how lucky I am that I don't write screenplays.



This picture has absolutely nothing to do with the
content of this article, except a cute cat picture is
always good for an extra page view or two. And
a black cat that big is pretty much free to do
whatever he wants, of course. (Yes, he's ours. Or
we're his, depending on who you ask.)

What, you say, does that have to do with this month's theme of freedom?  Plenty.  Give me a minute, and I'll to explain, probably on my first go-round.  (I can do that with nonfiction.  Really.)

It all goes back to Save the Cat, Blake Snyder's 2005 scriptwriting guide.  As noted in the recent Slate article, "Save the Movie", Snyder's page-by-page, beat-by-beat recipe for a saleable script has become a religious icon in Hollywood circles, to the point where they even reconfigured the incidents and emphasis in the recent The Great Gatsby remake to conform with Snyder's structure.  Even Joseph Campbell's eff-ing Hero's Journey couldn't manage that, no matter how hard George Lucas tried.

There are a lot of well-intentioned writing instructors who tout Snyder's formula for all kinds of fiction. There are even folks who claim to have found an analogue for commercial fiction (I'm looking at you, Donald Maass).  But the thing is, as useful as any or all of these would-be bibles can be, when it comes to writing and selling your writing, they can't cover all the contingencies.

Which isn't to say editors don't prefer to work from a limited number of templates. Big Publishing has always had a vested interest in formula. Publishers exist to make money, after all. If they could figure out a formula that would sell as reliably Coca Cola (or Pepsi--sheesh! You people a so picky!) they'd buy it in a heartbeat and spend the remainder of human history injecting it into a succession of slowly evolving covers and formats.

But with all their knowledge of structure, form, branding, platform and target markets, the majority of published titles wither on the bookstore or electronic equivalent of the vine. There might, in fact, be three inviolable rules in writing, but nobody knows what they are. 

The next big thing always comes out of nowhere, and always demonstrates--Again!--that structure and technique don't matter beans if a story touches a nerve. That ability to touch the reader (and inspire fervent hand-selling in one's friends) is the constant that unites such "unlikely" bestsellers as Hunt for the Red October, Twilight, and 50 Shades of Gray.

And there are always more where those came from, because--unlike a Hollywood movie, which is always a multi-million dollar production--writing is cheap. Thanks to the Internet and the explosion of indie publishing, all you need to join the party is a keyboard, an Internet connection, a great story, and a lot of luck.  It's the lowest risk creative investment there is.

This is freedom.  I don't have to structure my story around the Male Hero's Journey in fifteen beats, with a statement of theme from a dissatisfied superior on p. 30.  I don't have to write about the superhero flavor of the hour.  The story doesn't have to turn into a kinderschool teaching moment. I can write about women or collective heroes.  I can write about obscure historical periods and the kind of aliens even a mother couldn't love. I can send a dragon to a conference on magic piracy, and have a siren sing about strudel. My stories can be about anything in any format, as long as they work.

And have an ending. 

Back to the keyboard.

Jean Marie Ward

Business as UNusual: Inside Publishing

When you get right down to it, being an author is one of the few occupations almost everyone feels they could do. “I’ve been thinking about writing a book.” If I had a little cash for every time I heard that, I could retire to that castle I’ve been dreaming of. Maybe because of what it’s called—writing—most people genuinely believe it’s not that hard. After all, most of us been writing since we were in grade school!

Uh-huh…and although most of us learned to speak in infancy how many truly, wonderfully articulate people do you know? Or, as my husband said of a family member, people able to speak in Technicolor?

Yeah…

Even if you have that rare ability to write a good story, no matter what anyone says you still need to learn how to write properly. Natural talent is excellent and a great start, but it isn’t everything.

Publishing is in a constant state of flux but some aspects haven’t—and shouldn’t—change. The majority of readers still expect value for the money and time spent buying and reading a book. Agents, editors and readers now too, since in many cases the buffer between producer and end-user is no longer there, still expect not just an enthralling story but a well written book.

And no, that’s not what editors are for (although as a freelance editor maybe I shouldn’t say so). To authors there are several reasons why taking the time to really learn the craft makes sound business sense.

Knowing how to properly craft a story means you can produce more, quicker. You’ll know, instinctively and intellectually, whether a story concept is viable, what will make it really exciting and how to frame it effectively. You’ll find beginning to write a story and not completing it will happen less frequently, and it’s easier to get quickly from concept to final product.

In addition, if your story is poorly written there is only so much an editor can/will/will want to do with it, and this will affect you in a variety of ways. Firstly, if you’re trying to break into a publishing house and your book needs extensive line editing, chances are it’ll be rejected. In the present climate editors may be willing to work with you on plot and pacing but expect you to know the basics of grammar and syntax. Having the ability to properly craft a story gives you a definite edge on the competition when you send out submissions.

Secondly, if you want to hire a freelance editor, you may find yourself paying more than the person who’s taken the time and has the ability to self-edit. Many freelancer editors ask for a sample and use it to determine how much they’ll charge—poor writing = higher fees. Economics dictate you should spend only what you must to produce your book, and if you can save money on editing, that’s something you should be seriously considering.

And, of course, if you decide not to hire an editor at all before publishing your book, and it doesn’t sell in the numbers you were hoping for because it’s poorly written, not only have you lost the opportunity to sell this book, but potentially the next, and the next. Readers have long memories and most won’t give an author a second chance if they feel they wasted their money the first time around. This crazy business we’re in can be unforgiving!

You’ve heard the expression, 'Old age ain’t for sissies'? Well, I’m thinking the weird, wacky and wild world of publishing isn’t either. Arm yourself accordingly!